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Introduction

Newspapers are publications usually issued daily, weekly, or at other regular times that provide news, views, features, and other information of public interest and that often carry advertising. Although newspapers traditionally have been produced as print publications (generally they are printed on coarse, low-cost paper known as newsprint), the newspaper concept today is changing rapidly. While there are still more than 11,000 daily newspapers in the world—including more than 1,400 paid-for dailies in the United States—many of those newspapers are also published online, and there are a growing number of “newspapers” that appear online exclusively.

According to the newspaper industry journal Editor & Publisher, the total paid circulation for daily print newspapers in the United States declined by more than 22 percent between 1988 and 2008. In stark contrast, the number of unique visitors to U.S. online newspaper sites grew markedly in the early 21st century, from around 40 million visitors per month in 2004 to some 70 million per month by 2009. These trends were acknowledged by the Newspaper Association of America, the largest organization of U.S. newspaper publishers, which emphasized to its members that “continual change is necessary to meet the evolving needs of readers and advertisers,” and were a clear indication to many that—though the days of print newspapers may be numbered—the value of producing newspaper-like content will live on.

Historical Background

The idea of sharing news and information goes back centuries, well before there was anything resembling a modern-day newspaper. Until the invention of printing, the public had to be satisfied with whatever information it was given by official sources, or it had to make do with hearsay and rumor. The early evidence of an official means of spreading news dates from 59 bc in Rome, where a daily gazette known as the Acta diurna (“daily acts”) was published. Attributed to Julius Caesar, it contained coverage of social and political events: elections, public appointments, government edicts, treaties, trials and executions, military news, births, marriages, and deaths. The Acta diurna was written in manuscript and displayed in prominent places in Rome. A similar approach to publishing news was undertaken in China from the 6th to the 20th century.

During the Middle Ages manuscript newsletters provided political and commercial information and were circulated among the few people who could read. There were also some newsbooks, or pamphlets—not really newspapers—detailing important events such as battles. Between 1590 and 1610 about 450 newsbooks were published in England.

In the first two decades of the 17th century, more or less regular papers printed from movable type appeared in Germany, Italy, and the Netherlands. The Dutch “corantos” (“currents of news”), which strung together items extracted from foreign journals, became the sources for English and French translations published in Amsterdam as early as 1620. The first English corantos appeared in London in 1621. Other countries also had rudimentary newspapers: Switzerland in 1610, Austria in 1620, Denmark in 1634, Sweden in 1645, and Poland in 1661. Broadsheets with social news were published in Japan in the Tokugawa period (1603–1867).

No sooner did the first corantos begin carrying domestic and foreign news than censorship appeared. The first English publisher, Thomas Archer, was quickly imprisoned. Government management of news set in immediately. Domestic coverage was limited to trivialities. Serious political comment or coverage was forbidden. Foreign news was censored in favor of government policy. Censorship lasted even longer on the Continent, and it carried over to the American colonies. (See alsocensorship.)

The first newspaper in British North America, Publick Occurrences Both Foreign and Domestick (1690), was immediately suppressed by the governor of Massachusetts. Official news was spread by means of proclamations and pamphlets or by newsletters and newspapers from London. The first regular newspaper in the colonies did not appear until April 1704, and it was published by authority of the government. It was the weekly Boston News-Letter, published by John Campbell, the postmaster. A competing newspapers was launched in 1719: the Boston Gazette, published by postmaster James Franklin, an older brother of Benjamin Franklin. Two years later James Franklin started his own New-England Courant. This was the beginning of independent journalism in the United States.

Freedom of the press was advanced in a landmark case in 1735 when John Peter Zenger, a New York City newspaper publisher, was acquitted of libel on the defense that his political criticism was based on fact. Press freedom in the United States was further secured by the First Amendment to the U.S. Constitution (1791). Most of the press of the new republic proved fiercely partisan in the political struggles between the Federalists and Jeffersonian Republicans. Because the press espoused government policies, the government was very willing to use the press as a propaganda tool. At one time U.S. Pres. Andrew Jackson, who served as president from 1829 to 1837, had 60 full-time journalists on the White House payroll.

The year 1827 marked the founding of Freedom’s Journal, the first African American-run newspaper in the United States. Started by two free blacks, John B. Russwurm and Samuel E. Cornish, the newspaper lobbied persistently for an end to slavery.

Émile de Girardin founded La Presse in France in 1836 and introduced new features, such as serial stories, to raise circulation and bring down the purchasing price of the paper. In the United States James Gordon Bennett, disgusted with newspaper partisanship, founded the New York Herald in 1835. With this newspaper modern American journalism began. Bennett led the way in rapid news gathering and efficient production methods. Horace Greeley founded the New York Tribune in 1841. Several other great American newspapers were founded in the decades before and after the Civil War. By 1850 there were about 400 dailies and far more weeklies. In 1880 there were about 850 dailies and, in 1900, more than 1,950.

In the United States newspapers were the means by which millions of immigrants learned about the American way of life. Aware of this huge mass audience, newspapers added new features and used sensationalism to attract readers. Joseph Pulitzer turned the St. Louis Post-Dispatch into a crusading journal. William Randolph Hearst, owner of the San Francisco Chronicle, bought the Morning Journal in New York City. Pulitzer had bought the New York World, and soon the two competed in a furious rivalry. They used scare headlines, many illustrations, Sunday supplements, and comic strips to attract readers. Their tactics gained the name yellow journalism, from a comic strip named “The Yellow Kid,” which played a part in the rivalry.

The techniques of yellow journalism spread throughout the newspaper industry. To combat it, Adolph S. Ochs took over the New York Times in 1896 and reestablished it as a serious newspaper with its well-known slogan: “All the news that’s fit to print.” This marked the comeback of the type of journalism inaugurated by James Gordon Bennett 60 years earlier.

Evolution of the Newspaper Industry

Early in the 20th century, the number of American papers reached a peak (more than 2,000 dailies and 14,000 weeklies). During the 1920s and ’30s competition for circulation continued, and the wide use of syndicated columnists and ready-to-use features, comic strips, crossword puzzles, and other amusements developed.

A dozen large chains later came to control more than half of the American dailies. The first American chain was organized by Edward W. Scripps in the 1890s. A pattern of consolidation and merger was seen worldwide, especially in the second half of the 20th century.

By 2008 Japan had five of the world’s 10 largest newspapers. Topping the global list was the national Japanese daily Yomiuri Shimbun, which printed more than 10 million copies per day. The Times of India, with a daily circulation of more than 3 million, was the largest English-language daily and ranked as the 6th largest in the world. By contrast, the largest newspaper in the United States, USA Today, had a daily circulation of about 2.3 million and ranked 13th internationally.

Matt Rourke/AP

In the face of the growing popularity of the Internet as a source of news and information, many newspapers—even some of the most prominent ones—have struggled to remain profitable. Nearly all the world’s major newspapers began publishing online editions of their publications in the early 21st century. Although some newspaper publishers charge their readers for this access, many have made their Web editions available for free, based on the expectation that advertising revenue, combined with lower printing and distribution costs, will make up for lost subscription fees.

A number of newspapers have reduced the frequency of their print editions, and some have discontinued print publication altogether. In 2009 the Detroit Free Press stopped offering daily home delivery to subscribers, choosing to limit home delivery of its print edition instead to three days a week. On March 18, 2009, the Seattle Post-Intelligencer began operating exclusively online, becoming the first major metropolitan daily newspaper in the United States to eliminate paper editions entirely.

News Gathering

The battle of Waterloo was fought in 1815 in Belgium. It took four days for the news to reach London, only 240 miles (386 kilometers) away, by mounted courier. After the laying of cables across the English Channel in 1851 and across the Atlantic Ocean in 1866, the time lag in the communicating of news was greatly reduced. Today news from around the globe is carried almost instantly by satellite transmissions and via the Internet.

Reporters

Azad Lashkari—Reuters/Landov

In the early days of journalism, news was put together by writers, agents, couriers, and other mostly anonymous individuals. As newspapers grew during the 19th century, staffs of full-time reporters went out to get the news. This development was stimulated by the wars of the 19th century, which necessitated correspondents at the war sites. One of the earliest and most outstanding was William Howard Russell, who covered the Crimean War (1853–56) for The Times of London.

During World War II newspaper correspondents, such as the well-known Ernie Pyle, covered battle scenes on the spot. Pyle was killed during a battle in the Pacific. It often took days for detailed accounts to reach the home front. By the time of the Vietnam War, however, it was possible for television audiences around the world to see the war being fought almost as it happened and for readers to get firsthand accounts in their newspapers the next day. Nowadays, many articles are posted online by newspapers within hours, if not minutes, after news events happen—or even as they happen.

News services

Even before Russell was reporting from Crimea, the cost as well as the difficulty of large-scale news gathering was an obstacle for many newspapers. This problem led to the founding of news services. The earliest was started in Paris by Charles Havas, who bought Correspondance Garnier, a translating office, and turned it into an agency to extract news from the chief European papers for the Paris press. He soon extended his service to other subscribers. A Havas employee, Bernhard Wolff, started a telegraphic bureau in Berlin.

One of the largest and most successful of the news services was founded in London in 1851 by Paul Julius Reuter, another Havas employee. In 1858 he began his service of foreign telegrams to the press. His agency was expanded by cable transmission until it covered most of the globe. (See alsoReuter.)

In the United States the cost of covering the Mexican War prompted six New York City newspapers to form in 1848 a cooperative news-gathering organization, the New York Associated Press. After major changes in 1900 and 1922, it became the Associated Press (AP). It was the first news service to be run by the newspapers themselves.

Another American news service, United Press International (UPI), was created in 1958 by the merger of the United Press and the International News Service. The United Press itself had been the product of a merger of the Scripps-McRae Press Association, founded in 1897, and the Publishers’ Press. The two merged into the United Press in 1907. The International News Service had been started by Hearst in 1909. In 1985 UPI filed for bankruptcy because of rising costs and a loss of subscribers. It was later bought by a Mexican newspaper owner.

In 1870 several agency treaties were signed that divided the world into separate preserves for the various news services. The AP agreed to the treaties in 1893. Reuters received the largest share, and for decades the flow of international news remained mostly in European hands. The expansion of American influence after World War I challenged this monopoly. A new agreement was signed in 1934 ending this exclusiveness. It represented a great advance in news gathering, for international news could be received from more than one source.

Most nations have news services, many of them government owned. Before 1991 the Soviet Union operated TASS, which stood for Telegraph Agency of the Soviet Union. In addition each of the Soviet republics had its own news agency—all integrated with TASS. China is served by the New China News Agency, which was founded in 1929 as the press outlet for the Communist party.

Besides the large news services such as Reuters and the AP, there are many smaller agencies, some of them specialized. The Dow Jones News Services specializes in financial matters, and the Religious News Service collects and relays news about churches and other religious organizations. King Features supplies comic strips and other materials. Some of the larger newspapers and media companies also have their own news-gathering agencies.

Newspaper Organization

Newspapers, while providing a valuable public service, are business enterprises first and foremost. The chief executive in charge of a newspaper operation is called a publisher and directs all of the various departments at the paper. These include business offices that deal with advertising, circulation, and marketing. Some newspapers have a general manager—someone responsible for running the day-to-day business operations—but that position has been eliminated at a number of newspapers as a cost-cutting move, flattening the organizational leadership structure. Similarly, the editorial head of a newspaper—who usually holds the title of editor in chief or executive editor—has often relied on a managing editor to oversee the day-to-day operations of the newsroom, but as many newspapers have faced declining circulations and revenue, that position has also been eliminated at some papers.

The newsroom is the most prominent and visible part of a newspaper operation. The editor in chief is responsible for the overall direction of the news staff. There are also specialized editors in charge of each of the various sections of a newspaper, such as sports, arts, and business. Some larger newspapers have a staff of national and international editors and reporters. At some smaller publications, editors may be in charge of more than one section of a newspaper.

Assigning editors—those who determine which stories will be covered—assign stories to reporters who research and write the stories. Once the stories have been written, the assigning editors edit the stories to ensure that they are well-researched and well-reported. Sources must be evaluated and confirmed, and articles must sometimes be rewritten to say something in a more direct way or to express something more clearly. Picture editors work with a staff of photographers to determine which stories have the best photographic possibilities.

Everything to be published in a newspaper, whether it comes over news service wires or is written in-house, goes through the hands of copy editors (known as subeditors at many publications outside of the United States). They prepare copy for printing or online publication; correct spelling, grammar, and usage according to specific style guidelines; trim content to fit available space; and write headlines. They also watch for discrepancies from previously published stories and make corrections if necessary. Copy editors are often considered the last and best chance a newspaper has to maintain consistency and accuracy.

Many news stories carry a byline—a line at the beginning of a story giving the name of the journalist who wrote it. Others are unsigned or credited to a news service. When a story does not carry a byline, it may be because an editor or reporter decided that the work is not original enough, did not take much time, or otherwise isn’t worthy of being published under a specific name. The presence of a byline is a signal to the reader that the reporter named has done his or her best job, under the limitations of a given deadline, to make sure that the story is accurate, complete, and balanced.

Most newspapers have editorial pages. Some carry two or more pages devoted to opinion columns; others have only one page. Columns on these pages may feature the opinions of a newspaper’s publisher or its editors about important current events and issues, including political races and other matters that may go before citizens for a vote. Editorial pages often also include syndicated columns written by regional or national commentators or journalists. Sometimes, opinion columns by local journalists are included. Letters to the editor are normally a standing feature of a newspaper editorial page.

It is important to note the distinction between the editorial or opinion pages of a newspaper and its news sections. Unlike editorial columns, news stories are not intended to convey a writer’s personal views on issues or particular topics; news stories aim instead for a direct presentation of facts or description of events and make no attempt at interpretation. While the publisher or top editors of a newspaper typically play a role in shaping editorial policy and content, most reporters and members of the newsroom staff have no say in this process.

There was a time when major newspaper editors and publishers such as Hearst, William Allen White of the Emporia, Kan., Gazette, and Colonel Robert R. McCormick of the Chicago Tribune were well known by many readers. That period is illustrated, and celebrated, by Charles MacArthur and Ben Hecht in their play The Front Page (1928). Today, most newspaper publishers and editors are relatively unknown to the general public, while some reporters have become celebrities. Notable examples are the Washington Post reporters Robert Woodward and Carl Bernstein, who by their relentless pursuit of the Watergate scandal were partly responsible for forcing U.S. Pres. Richard M. Nixon to resign in 1974.

The Production Process

David R. Frazier Photolibrary, Inc./Alamy

Since the invention of computers, the printing of newspapers has undergone dramatic change. The new techniques have made possible much faster and more frequent pressruns as well as more extensive use of color.

Page makeup

Newspapers were formerly produced by a system devised in the 19th century. Reporters and other writers typed their stories and gave them to editors for correcting and editing to length based on a page plan. Headlines were written on a different piece of paper. The story was set by a compositor working at a Linotype machine. This large typewriter-like machine produced lines of type from type metal. The Linotype was patented by Otto Mergenthaler in 1884. It cast thin slugs of type metal with a printing surface on one edge. After use the slugs could be melted and recast. Each slug was one line of type molded from a row of brass matrices assembled by a keyboard operator. The Monotype machine, patented in 1885, cast individual letters (seeprinting; type and typography; typesetting).

The type was arranged in a metal framework according to page plan. The headlines were set by a printer worker who chose letters from a case of characters. The headlines were added to the page along with advertisements, photographic blocks, and other features to make a complete page. A papier-mâché image was made of the page and coated with ink to form the image of the page on the newspaper.

When the page was set in metal, it was readable. The papier-mâché mat reversed it, and printing it onto paper reversed it again to make it readable by customers. This process, though outdated, was still in use in the early 21st century by some newspapers.

Many newspapers have replaced their Linotype machines with photocomposition, or filmsetting machines. As with Linotype, the operation is controlled by a typewriter-like keyboard. Stories and other features are first fit to a page by a layout artist. The pages are photographed and printing plates made from the film. The film is then placed on metal plates that have been treated with a photosensitive chemical. When exposed to light, the images on the film are transferred to plates. The plates are then placed in a printing press. Photocomposition has been made faster by the use of computers.

It is now possible to do complete page makeup on a computer terminal. Stories, headlines, illustrations, and advertisements are merged on a large screen to create a page as it will appear when printed. Reporters write and file their stories using computers from any location. At the newspaper office, editors edit the stories and add headlines. Computers allow editors to get an exact measure of story length and to justify left and right margins, making the margins even. The finished story and its related content can be called up by page designers who put the page together in a visually appealing presentation for print or online readers.

Presses

The prototype of the modern rotary press was achieved in 1866 with the introduction of the Walter press at The Times of London. The press was named for John Walter III, publisher of the newspaper. It printed both sides of a continuous web of paper fed from a roll at the rate of 25,000 impressions an hour.

A rotary press prints paper that passes between cylinders containing the printing plates. Many large rotary presses print in four colors as well as cut and fold the paper. Paper passes through the presses at about 20 miles (32 kilometers) per hour. Although this may seem fast, the speed is partly limited by the tensile strength of the paper. The paper, or newsprint, is made mostly from wood pulp.

Inks

Most newspaper printing inks are made of carbon pigments suspended in liquid, usually water. When the presses roll, the ink is transferred to the surface of the paper, but it is not well absorbed by the fibers of the paper. Therefore it can come off on the hands of anyone handling the paper.

Inks made from dyes that stain paper fiber and do not rub off have been developed. Nigrosine dyes proved unpopular because of the fumes they emit. The dye is dissolved in glycol, which produces the fumes and is easily absorbed into the skin. In the United States a smudgeless ink has been used for years. It uses an oil-soluble dye that solidifies rapidly when applied to paper. (See alsoink.)

Regional and National Newspapers

In 1959 the Japanese press, with its huge circulation, introduced the simultaneous publishing of identical newspapers in cities several hundred miles apart. This was achieved by facsimile transmission and teletypesetting. These transmission processes by telephone line, cable, radio, and satellite bridge long distances and offer remarkable speed of operation (seetelecommunication).

The new technologies made possible regional and national newspapers. In the late 1970s the New York Times inaugurated a national edition in the United States. It was transmitted by satellite to several regional printing centers. Another American paper, the Wall Street Journal, is published in regional editions in the United States; the paper also has international editions, including the Wall Street Journal Asia, edited in Hong Kong, and the Wall Street Journal Europe, edited in Brussels.

In 1982 a new national newspaper began publication in the United States—USA Today. It is published by the Gannett Company, headquartered in McLean, Virginia. The main edition of USA Today is printed at several facilities across the nation; an international edition is also published. The newspaper reached a circulation of one million within a year of its launch and surpassed two million in the 1990s. The features that originally set USA Today apart—abundant colorful graphics, very brief stories, and a concentration on sports and celebrity—have influenced other newspapers. In the United Kingdom, national newspapers include the Daily Mail, Daily Telegraph, and the Guardian. Japan’s “big three” dailies—Yomiuri Shimbun, Asahi Shimbun, and Mainichi Shimbun—are the three largest newspapers in the world.

Specialized Newspapers

Not all newspapers are general circulation dailies or weeklies. Many are devoted to specific kinds of news, while others are designed for limited readerships. Foreign-language newspapers in the United States have long provided general news for immigrants and the large foreign-born populations of major cities. There were more than 180 foreign-language newspapers published in the United States in the early 1980s. There are also many daily and weekly English-language newspapers published by and for blacks. Canada has numerous foreign-language newspapers (non-English and non-French). Special-interest newspapers also frequently serve business and religious communities, among many other groups.

Dissatisfaction with established papers, notably among younger readers, led to the rise in the second half of the 20th century of a diverse “underground,” or alternative, press. The Village Voice in New York City began publishing in 1955. The alternative press, sometimes strident and irreverent, was forthright in seeking fresh approaches.

During the Vietnam War era in the United States, many underground newspapers, some published on college and university campuses, vociferously opposed the war and the establishment. In Poland, after the Solidarity union was outlawed in December 1981, numerous underground presses kept the free-union movement alive. When the Communist regime fell in 1989, a former Solidarity editor, Tadeusz Mazowiecki, became prime minister.

During most of the years the Soviet Union existed, there was rigorous censorship. But after dictator Joseph Stalin’s death in 1953 an underground press (called samizdat, meaning “self-publishing”) flourished intermittently. With the growing freedom allowed after 1985, a virtually free press appeared very quickly. With the end of the Soviet Union and abolition of the Communist party in 1991, the old party newspaper, Pravda, was banned. The paper resumed after its purchase by Greek businessmen with connections to the Greek Communist party, but not even privatization could save Pravda. It went bankrupt and closed operations in July 1996.

Journalism as a Career

Art Directors and TRIP/Alamy

Until the last decades of the 19th century, editors and reporters learned their craft on the job. The first college course in journalism was offered at the University of Missouri in 1879. In 1912 Columbia University in New York City established the first graduate program in journalism, endowed by a grant from the New York City editor and publisher Joseph Pulitzer.

By that time it was recognized that reporting and operating a newspaper were complex enough to require specialized training. Conversely, editors also knew that intelligent reporting on political, economic, and scientific news demanded reporters with a broad background in these fields. Both editor and reporter need to have a good general knowledge of many subjects along with specialized journalistic skills.

To prepare for a career in journalism, students should, during their high school and college years, gain a general education in the arts and sciences. This includes all subjects from the social to the natural sciences along with language, literature, and writing. Today, many colleges and universities offer degree programs in journalism at the undergraduate or graduate levels. In addition to coursework, high school and college students may gain valuable knowledge and experience by working on their school newspapers. Some professional organizations, such as the American Society of News Editors, sponsor programs aimed at supporting youth journalism and provide information to young people about journalism training, internship, and publication opportunities.

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